Imperfect Year
by greenschist
Summary: "It's finally over. This horrible year," Harry clarified. The new year means a new beginning, but how do they move forward when the grief over all they've lost still lingers? Harry and Ginny cope, together. H/G, Ginny-centric.


A/N1: This ficlet is set on the first New Year's Eve after the Final Battle. The title comes from this quote by Brooks Atkinson: " _Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go."_

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Ginny stepped out into the frozen night, pulling the door shut and cutting off the sounds from inside. She let her forehead rest against the cold door, listening to the sound of the wireless within. Ordinarily, New Year's Eve at the Burrow meant music, laughter, and explosions. The contrast between her memories and this year's subdued party was painful.

Straightening, Ginny turned and scanned the snow for Harry's footprints. Finding them, she trailed him around the corner of the house, stretching her legs a bit to walk in the impressions he had left behind.

Only Ron and Hermione seemed truly happy tonight, embracing and teasing each other with leftover mistletoe. Molly and George, barely recovered from their first Christmas without Fred, wore fake smiles and did their best to be cheerful, while the rest of the Weasleys did their best pretending to believe them. And Harry...Harry had been sending out silent _everyone stay away_ vibes all day, ever since he had returned from visiting baby Teddy at Andromeda Tonks's.

She shivered and slipped her hands into her pockets, hunching her shoulders against the cold. Under the three-quarter moon, the back garden shone silver, and Ginny spied Harry's silhouette against the fence. She bit her lip but continued toward him at the same steady pace, letting him hear the crunch of snow under her feet. He didn't react, and when she hugged him from behind, he covered her hands with his own. Ginny pressed a kiss against his shoulder and hugged him tighter when he sighed. For a moment, they just stood together in silence, looking up at the clear winter sky.

"Sorry for being such a prat." Harry's thumb stroked the back of her hand.

"You haven't been," she said simply. Ginny laid her head against his shoulder blade. "You can always come to me when things are bad, you know. We don't have to talk, but you can always come to me." She closed her eyes when she felt him relax, as if every muscle in his back were unclenching.

They were quiet for a time, listening to the wind in the trees blowing through bare branches.

"It's finally over. This horrible year," he clarified when Ginny leaned left and looked up at him in confusion.

"Oh." Ginny shifted until she stood beside Harry, curling her arm around his waist. His arm settled over her shoulders, warming her. "It'll be good to put it behind us. The new year always feels like a fresh start, even if everything is the same." She hesitated. "I'm really glad this is the end of the holiday season, too. Maybe it will be easier to feel normal when we're done thinking 'this is our first Christmas without Fred.'"

Harry bowed his head. "Or Remus and Tonks."

"Yeah." Ginny watched the wind play with Harry's fringe and reached up to smooth it with her fingers. The moon cast a silver sheen on his dark hair and traced every line on his face. Standing beside him, under the weight of their shared losses, Ginny felt as tired as Harry looked. "It's hard to be happy when you're still measuring time by how how many days it's been since you lost people you love," she said finally.

He picked at splinters on the fence post with a restless hand. "I think it Mrs. Tonks had a bad time of it. I should have gone over on Christmas day."

Ginny's heart ached. "She said she wanted to be alone with Teddy, Harry."

"I know, but..." he trailed off.

Ginny stroked Harry's side in comfort. "Did Teddy like his present?" They had selected the Self-Spinning Top with flashing lights together.

"He laughed a lot. I think he's a happy baby. Mrs. Tonks said he had a good Christmas." Harry put one hand over his eyes, his voice suddenly hoarse. "I don't know why I was worried he'd get no presents. That's crazy. Like Mrs. Tonks would ever do that to him."

"Oh, Harry." Ginny wrapped both arms around him then and peppered his jaw with light kisses. It was familiar by then, the mixed feeling of contempt for the Dursleys and gratitude for her own warm, wonderful family, but no easier to bear. "Mrs. Tonks loves him, and you'll be there for him like Sirius was for you. Teddy will have a good life, one without fear, which is exactly what his parents wanted for him." Harry buried his face in her hair.

"Yeah," was all he said.

"They'd hex us for this, don't you think? Remus, Tonks, and Fred, I mean." Ginny pulled back just far enough to give Harry a tiny smirk. "Not one of them would call the year that saw the end of Voldemort 'horrible.' More like 'stupendous,' 'awesome,' and 'bloody brilliant.'"

Harry treated her to the first genuine smile she'd seen in hours. "I guess you're right." He kissed her forehead. "I sure hope this next year is easier, though."

A series of loud pops and a boom stopped Ginny before she could agree. Over the ridge, fireworks began exploding in showers of color.

"Is it midnight already?" A Ravenclaw eagle burst into being overhead, painting Harry's face in blue light. "Did we miss the countdown?"

"I think the Lovegoods started celebrating early." Ginny laughed as two new rockets, one a silver Father Time and the other a golden Baby New Year, chased each other across the sky. Behind them, the back door of the Burrow opened and her family began streaming out to watch the Lovegood's light show, just as they did every year.

"There they are, Mum," she heard Percy say. "By the fence."

"Oh, thank goodness. What are you two doing out in the cold by yourselves?" Molly called.

"Isn't it obvious, Mum? The ickle lovers wanted a little alone time. Our baby Ginny's all grown up." George sounded like his old self, and Ginny blinked hard to clear her eyes.

Harry's lips brushed her earlobe. "Happy New Year, Gin."

"I love you," she murmured in response, dragging his head down to hers for an early New Year's kiss and smiling against his mouth at the chorus of whistles and heckling that rose from her brothers.

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A/N2: I wrote this for a Ginny-centric drabble exchange. My prompt was Harry/Ginny (with Ron/Hermione and Remus/Tonks, if I could make them fit), an emphasis on Ginny's interpersonal relationships, and as close to canon as possible.


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